Brave New World 2012, the Sixteenth Annual Postgraduate Conference organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), will take place on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th June 2012 at the University of Manchester.

We are pleased to announce that our guest speakers this year are:

Richard Arneson (University of California, San Diego)

Charles Larmore (Brown University)

The Brave New World conference series is now established as a leading international forum dedicated exclusively to the discussion of postgraduate research in political theory. The conference offers a great opportunity for postgraduates from many different countries and universities to share experiences, concerns and research interests, to exchange stimulating ideas and to make new friends - all in a financially accessible and highly informal setting. Participants will also have the chance to meet and talk about their work with eminent academics, including members of faculty from the University of Manchester and guest speakers, who will deliver keynote addresses at the event.

Guest speakers in previous years have included Brian Barry, Simon Caney, G.A. Cohen, Roger Crisp, Cecile Fabre, Jerry Gaus, Peter Jones, Chandran Kukathas, Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Susan Mendus, David Miller, Onora O’Neill, Michael Otsuka, Bhikhu Parekh, Carole Pateman, Anne Phillips, Thomas Pogge, Joseph Raz, Andrea Sangiovanni, Quentin Skinner, Adam Swift, Philippe Van Parijs, Leif Wenar, Andrew Williams, and Jonathan Wolff.

Papers focusing on any area of political theory or political philosophy are welcome. If you would like to present a paper then please send a 300-word, anonymised abstract (including the title of the paper) to Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk no later than 9th April 2012. Please also include in your email your name and institutional affiliation. Please note that the conference is self-financed and participants are responsible for seeking their own funding. For further details please contact us at Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk

Via Marius Ostrowski:

Political Theory and the ‘Liberal’ Tradition

Graduate students are invited to submit paper proposals for the inaugural Oxford Graduate Conference in Political Theory, to be held at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, on 19-20 April 2012. The theme for this conference is “Political Theory and the ‘Liberal’ Tradition”, and there will be two keynote addresses, given by Professor Jeremy Waldron (University of Oxford) and Professor Charles Mills (Northwestern University). The theme may be broadly construed, and we welcome papers addressing any of the following themes:

The ‘liberal’ tradition and history of political thought: The canon of great political works is still believed to offer crucial insights for current theorising, thanks to their perception as continuous sources of wisdom about the salient principles of good government. But why are certain thinkers traditionally included, whilst others are not? Why are most ‘great’ thinkers dead, white, and male? Has liberalism been insensitive to the grievances of minorities, and to certain forms of oppression and exclusion? Finally, is the ‘liberal’ tradition a retrospective construct, which paradoxically includes thinkers who never considered themselves ‘liberals’?

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Via Ted Lechterman, this year’s CFP for a great graduate conference in political theory:

The Committee for the Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University welcomes papers concerning any topic in political theory, political philosophy, or the history of political thought. Papers should be submitted via the conference website by January 16, 2012. Approximately eight papers will be accepted.

The Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University will be held from April 6-7, 2012. This year, we are excited to include Professor Elisabeth Ellis, Texas A&M University, as keynote speaker and conference participant.

The conference offers graduate students from across institutions a unique opportunity to present and critique new work. Each session, led by a discussant from Princeton, will focus exclusively on one paper and will feature an extensive question and answer period with Princeton faculty and graduate students. Papers will be pre-circulated among conference participants.

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Via Pinar Kemerli at Cornell:

“From Meydan Tahrir to Wisconsin: Rethinking Revolution, Democracy and Citizenship”

An interdisciplinary graduate student conference, hosted by the political theory graduate students in the Department of Government at Cornell University, April 27 – 28, 2012.

From revolutionary awakenings in the Arab world to protests against austerity measures in Europe and assaults on labor rights in Wisconsin, a “specter is haunting the world” – the specter of democracy and equality. This conference aims to bring together a diverse group of graduate students to discuss the significance of these revolutionary mobilizations and moments of solidarity for political thought. How do unfolding events challenge us to reconsider political concepts such as democracy, revolution, and citizenship? In light of these historical developments, papers might address political possibilities and anxieties unleashed by the current revolutionary enthusiasm: To what extent are these demands for economic equality, labor rights, and democracy compatible with contemporary hegemony of (neo)liberalism? Does the Tea Party as a conservative social movement challenge our ideas regarding the content of democratic politics? Is it the attempt to weaken union rights in Wisconsin that represents an undermining of democratic citizenship, or the recall efforts that have followed them? When are “rebels/protesters” justified in claiming popular authority and taking up “constituent power”? How should we interpret the nationalist discourse and imagery evoked in revolutions? What is at stake in the tendency to present the Egyptian revolution as a radical break from the past, as a distinctively “secular moment”? What do transnational connections between the protesters in Tahrir Square and the public workers of Wisconsin tell us about revolutionary enthusiasm from afar, about democracy’s ‘witness’, or about projection of democratic imagery and metaphor?

We seek papers that will engage a wide range of disciplines, including politics, sociology, developmental sociology, history, anthropology, and near eastern studies. In order to be considered, applicants should email their proposals to cornelltheoryconference [at] gmail.com by November 1, 2011. Proposals should include a two-page c.v. and a prospectus of 500-1000 words.

Decisions will be announced by January 15, 2012.

This conference will provide a setting in which distinguished proponents and critics of some of the prevalent interpretive approaches currently used in humanities and social sciences research are able to engage, for the first time, in a rigorous debate about the advantages and costs of each approach, and to discuss the political assumptions that inform them, as well as aims that drive them.

One of the primary goals will be to evaluate the validity of each interpretive method in reference to the readings it produces when applied to texts. Some of the key questions in this respect include: What is it that each method can or cannot claim to be able to show? To what extent do these methods succeed both in theory and in practice? Do they prevent or improve our understanding of texts? A second focus of the conference is to shed light upon the political dimension of interpretive enterprises and to decode their ideological presuppositions. There has virtually been no interdisciplinary exchange about the question of whether these approaches are ideologically sustained, and if so, whether ideologically charged approaches in turn induce interpreters to systematically ignore some aspects of texts, whilst emphasizing others. Here, consequences will be drawn for the interpretation of politics, widely construed.

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Brave New World 2011, the Fifteenth Annual Postgraduate Conference organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), will take place on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th June 2011 at the University of Manchester.

We are pleased to announce that our guest speakers this year are:

Joseph Raz (Columbia University)
Andrea Sangiovanni (King’s College London)

The Brave New World conference series is now established as a leading international forum dedicated exclusively to the discussion of postgraduate research in political theory. The conference offers a great opportunity for postgraduates from many different countries and universities to share experiences, concerns and research interests, to exchange stimulating ideas and to make new friends - all in a financially accessible and highly informal setting. Participants will also have the chance to meet and talk about their work with eminent academics, including members of faculty from the University of Manchester and guest speakers, who will deliver keynote addresses at the event.

Guest speakers in previous years have included Brian Barry, Simon Caney, G.A. Cohen, Roger Crisp, Cecile Fabre, Jerry Gaus, Peter Jones, Chandran Kukathas, Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Susan Mendus, David Miller, Onora O’Neill, Michael Otsuka, Bhikhu Parekh, Carole Pateman, Anne Phillips, Thomas Pogge, Quentin Skinner, Adam Swift, Philippe Van Parijs, Leif Wenar, Andrew Williams, and Jonathan Wolff.

Papers focusing on any area of political theory or political philosophy are welcome. If you would like to present a paper, please send a 300-word, anonymised abstract, including the title of the paper, to Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk, no later than 11th April 2011. Please also include in your email your name and institutional affiliation. Please note that the conference is self-financed and participants are responsible for seeking their own funding. For further details please contact Dean Redfearn at Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk, or visit the conference website at http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/politics/events/bnw2011/

CFP: 25 March 2011 

Keynote Speakers
Professor Andrew Simester, Fellow, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge and Professor of Law, National University of Singapore
Professor David Archard, Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy, Lancaster University

Submission Deadline 25 March 2011

We are now inviting postgraduate students in philosophy, political theory, international relations and other related areas to submit high quality papers on the theme Rights and Cultural Diversity, broadly construed. Each postgraduate presentation should be of a maximum of 30 minutes, and will be followed by a 10 minute reply before an open discussion. Each session will last 90 minutes.

An abstract of 700 words (prepared for blind review) should be sent via email to kth1@stir.ac.uk by 25 March 2011 along with a separate cover letter containing the following information: author’s name, title of paper, institutional affiliation and contact information (email, phone number, mailing address). Selected participants will be required to send a full draft of their paper for review by 22 April 2011.

Please refer to the website http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2417815/L_P/Law_and_Philosophy/Welcome.html for details regarding the conference schedule, dinner, fees and accommodation.

Organizing Committee
Brian Ho kth1@stir.ac.uk
Ruth E Lowe rl332@st-andrews.ac.uk

Brave New World 2011, the Fifteenth Annual Postgraduate Conference organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), will take place on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th June 2011 at the University of Manchester.

We are pleased to announce that our guest speakers this year are:

Joseph Raz (University of Oxford)

Andrea Sangiovanni (King’s College London)

The Brave New World conference series is now established as a leading international forum dedicated exclusively to the discussion of postgraduate research in political theory. The conference offers a great opportunity for postgraduates from many different countries and universities to share experiences, concerns and research interests, to exchange stimulating ideas and to make new friends - all in a financially accessible and highly informal setting. Participants will also have the chance to meet and talk about their work with eminent academics, including members of faculty from the University of Manchester and guest speakers, who will deliver keynote addresses at the event.

Guest speakers in previous years have included Brian Barry, Simon Caney, G.A. Cohen, Roger Crisp, Cecile Fabre, Jerry Gaus, Peter Jones, Chandran Kukathas, Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Susan Mendus, David Miller, Onora O’Neill, Michael Otsuka, Bhikhu Parekh, Carole Pateman, Anne Phillips, Thomas Pogge, Quentin Skinner, Adam Swift, Philippe Van Parijs, Leif Wenar, Andrew Williams, and Jonathan Wolff.

Papers focusing on any area of political theory or political philosophy are welcome. If you would like to present a paper, please send a 300-word, anonymised abstract, including the title of the paper, to Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk, no later than 11th April 2011. Please also include in your email your name and institutional affiliation. Please note that the conference is self-financed and participants are responsible for seeking their own funding. For further details please contact Dean Redfearn at Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk

The Committee for the Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University welcomes papers concerning any period, methodological approach or topic in political theory, political philosophy, or the history of political thought.  Approximately eight papers will be accepted.

Each session, led by a discussant from Princeton, will be focused exclusively on one paper and will feature an extensive question and answer period with Princeton faculty and students.  Papers will be pre-circulated among conference participants.

The keynote address will be given by Professor Patchen Markell of the University of Chicago.

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The deadline for this conference has now been extended to 18 January 2010 — SCM.

The Committee for the Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University welcomes papers concerning any period, methodological approach or topic in political theory, political philosophy, or the history of political thought. Approximately eight papers will be accepted.

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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL THEORY AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MAY 20-22, 2010

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan
Christine Korsgaard, Harvard University

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: The deadline is February 15, 2010. We welcome submissions from faculty and graduate students, as sessions will be reserved for student presentations. Essays should be roughly 4000 words, with an abstract of at most 150 words. Essays in all areas of ethical theory and political philosophy will be considered, though some priority will be given to those that take up themes from the works of Elizabeth Anderson and Christine Korsgaard, such as value theory, philosophy and economics, democratic theory, practical reason, constructivism, personal identity, and the moral status of animals. Essays and abstracts should be prepared for blind review in word, rtf, or pdf format. Students should submit by e-mail to leegoldsmith2012 [at] u.northwestern.edu; faculty should submit by e-mail to garthoff [at] northwestern.edu. Notices of acceptance will be sent by March 31, 2010. For more information, please contact Jon Garthoff at the e-mail address above or visit the conference webpage.

Sponsored by HDCP/IRC- Human Development, Capability and Poverty International Research Centre at IUSS-Institute for Advanced Study (Pavia) under the joint patronage of the Italian Society for Political Philosophy and the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy.

24/09/2009

9-9.30 Registration

9.30-11 Plenary Session
Chair: Ian Carter (University of Pavia)
Michael Otsuka (University College London), Risking Life and Limb

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We are pleased to announce that our guest speakers this year are:
Professor Chandran Kukathas (London School of Economics)
Dr Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (University of Copenhagen)

Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 31st 2009

The Brave New World conference series is now established as a leading international forum exclusively dedicated to the discussion of postgraduate research in political theory. The conference offers a great opportunity for postgraduates from many different countries and universities to share experiences, concerns and research interests, to exchange stimulating ideas and to make new friends - all in a financially accessible and highly informal setting.

Participants will also have the chance to meet and talk about their work with eminent academics, including members of faculty from the University of Manchester as well as our guest speakers, who will deliver keynote addresses at the event. Guest speakers in previous years have included Brian Barry, Simon Caney, G.A. Cohen, Cecile Fabre, Jerry Gaus, Peter Jones, Susan Mendus, David Miller, Onora O’Neill, Michael Otsuka, Bhikhu Parekh, Carole Pateman, Anne Philips, Thomas Pogge, Henry Shue, Quentin Skinner, Adam Swift, Philippe Van Parijs, Andrew Williams, and Jonathan Wolff.

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This two-day conference is meant to offer graduate students an opportunity to present papers, get helpful feedback in a friendly atmosphere, and exchange ideas both with peers and with leading academics in the field of political philosophy. In addition to parallel sessions devoted to students’ presentations, there will also be two plenary sessions. Plenary speakers in past editions have been: Hillel Steiner, Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, Peter Jones, Gianfrancesco Zanetti, Jonathan Wolff, Michele Nicoletti, Philippe Van Parijs, Sebastiano Maffettone, Giovanni Giorgini, Andrew Williams, David Miller and Alessandro Ferrara. This year’s keynote speakers will be:

Nadia Urbinati (Columbia University), speaking on “Unpolitical Democracy”
Michael Otsuka (University College of London), speaking on “Risking Life and Limb”

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An announcement from the organisers of this year’s Princeton grad conference:

The Committee for the Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University welcomes papers concerning any period, methodological approach, and/or topic in political theory, political philosophy, and/or the history of political thought. Approximately eight papers will be accepted.

Each session, led by a discussant from Princeton, will be focused exclusively on one paper and will feature an extensive question and answer period with Princeton faculty and students. Papers will be pre-circulated among conference participants.

The keynote address, “Utopophobia,” will be given by David Estlund (Professor of Philosophy, Brown University).

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Something of relevance for grad students who also work in ethics or applied ethics:

The graduate students of the Department of Philosophy at Virginia Tech are hosting their fifth annual conference on 7-8 November 2008. The topic of the conference is Twentieth Century Ethics, and the keynote speaker is Simon Blackburn.

Graduate students are invited to submit papers in metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics, or on the development of ethics throughout the century. Papers should be no longer than 3500 words (20-30 minutes presentation), and should include a short abstract of 200-250 words. Please prepare them for blind review and email as a MS Word document to Heather Oldham by 1 October 2008. Also include a separate cover sheet with your name, the paper title, your mailing address, email address, telephone number, and institutional affiliation.

Via Jacob T. Levy:

The Department of Government (FAS) at Harvard University will host its second conference for graduate students in political theory and political philosophy from October 31 - November 1, 2008. Papers on any theme or topic within political theory—from the history of political thought to contemporary normative and conceptual theory—will be considered. Between seven and twelve papers will be accepted.

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The Berkeley-Stanford-Davis Graduate Student Philosophy Conference will be held in Wellman Hall at Davis on 5 April 2008. Papers from graduate students at California universities in all areas of philosophy are invited. Papers of about 35 minutes in length (4500 words) should be prepared for blind review and submitted (as MS Word or pdf documents) by 1 February to the organisers. Include your name, affiliation, contact information, paper title, and 100-200 word abstract in the body of the email. Follow the link for more details or contact Brad Morris. This is one of the best opportunities for grad students on the west coast to meet and present their work.

More mountainous philosophy, via the new Philosophy Updates Google Group organised by Fritz Allhoff and students at Western Michigan:

The Philosophy Department at the University of Utah will be holding the fifth Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference from 27-29 March 2008. All areas of philosophy are welcome. Papers should be no more than 3500 words in length and prepared for blind review. Nadeem Hussain (Stanford) is the keynote speaker. Papers and questions should be emailed to Jamie Hardy. The deadline is 31 January 2008. Follow the link for more.

A third graduate conference CFP coming up soon: “Philosophy of Ice,” hosted by the graduate students of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, from 29 February to 1 March 2008. Keynote speaker is J. David Velleman. CFP deadline is 10 December 2007. Here’s the flyer. (more…)